I’m sat in a rooftop bar in Manizales writing this blog which, admittedly, is a little late. However, retracing my experiences over the last week or so with a sparkling water is a fun thing to do.
I woke up the morning of Wednesday 28th and left Fredonia. It was a quiet little town which I had thoroughly enjoyed but one night was enough to feel like you’d done everything that was available. I saw on my phone that I had a long climb to complete to get into Jericó so woke up relatively early to be on my way. The slightly frustrating thing about Colombia is that the height gained from every climb you complete is almost instantly lost just after with a steep descent down into the valley. This was never truer than for Fredonia to Jericó.
A quick pop in a Fredonian boulangerie and I was off. To my surprise the road kept climbing, to higher than the map had said. My legs were tired from the day before but I enjoyed the fact that I knew a descent was soon approaching. I cycled into a small town called Marsella and knew that this was the peak. I had a few well earned nuts and a swig of water and enjoyed the view available to me. Whilst waiting at the top of the hill I noticed a siamese dog; two dogs conjoined at the hip. I try to take notes as I go on my travels to help me when writing the blog as I am aware that after most cycling days I won’t have the energy to write up my memoirs. I did not however take a note of that dog yet it remains firmly in my mind as the memory of the beautiful mountain top view fades…
At last I was descending! A good 20km down a lovely concrete road that looked newly completed. I passed many cyclists on this road powering up much faster than I could ever hope with this heavy heavy bike. After that much downhill my brakes were molten hot and I noted the importance of keeping an eye on them. With this much climbing and descending my brakes will be used up quickly.
The sound of the insects was yet again deafening to the point where I was unable to stop and enjoy a pause without my head hurting. As I got down to the river a slight sense of dread came over me as I realised that I had a 1500m 25km climb up the mountains to Jericó. There was no other decently sized town on route so I knew that the climb had to be finished in whatever manner. If my legs failed me I could always hitch a lift with a passing lorry!
I starting climbing and thought it would be impossible, every 20m I was having to stop to catch my breath. My legs didn’t feel strong enough to lift the weight of the bike and some of the inclines were touching 10%, the sun was burning and my energy was low. However the traffic was quiet and the road was beautiful these two aspects gave me the mental strength to continue. As I grew into the climb it became easier and I felt like I had some momentum behind me. I stopped regularly to enjoy the views and motored on up the mountain.
I noticed that there were paragliders everywhere which was an amazing sight to see as I climbed the mountain. Alongside the paragliders were tens of what looked like vultures circling over the top of my head. It seemed like they could sense my lack of energy and thought an easy meal was near…
I stopped off to help a broken down motorcyclist who was grateful of my presence on the quiet road and finally arrived in Jerico. The town is truly beautiful. On my way to find a hotel someone called in English, asking if I was cycle touring. I replied yes and he said that he was also cycling through Colombia. His plan was to go onto Ushuaia. I took his number and went to shower.
That evening we grabbed dinner together and realised that we were going in the same direction. We were even using the same blog as our aid (weleaf – thank you!) We finished dinner and made plans to cycle to Jardin the next day. His name is Baloo and he is a Belgian cyclist who has taken a year to go from Colombia to the south of Argentina. Baloo was camping just up the road and that night the skies opened up. Thunder lightning and terrential downpour. I was happy to have a roof!
We met up the next day and set off in the direction of Jardín. The road out of Jerico is very very hard and we spent the first few kilometres pushing our bikes. The climbing is short but intense with inclines that I was unable to go up using only my legs. Hopefully these chicken legs will fill out by the end of my trip. The road was up and down and even the down is tough on the body. Your hands are constantly pulling down on the brakes leading to hand cramps and the shaking frame sends shocks through your body. It’s always an uneasy feeling hearing your bike rattling all over the place, I hope it holds out!
The first stop of the day was on a little bridge over a river and we enjoyed the donkeys wondering past us as we ate our nuts. The little aspects of this trip are what brings joy. We continued along the road and the shaking took its toll. My front pannier completely snapped. A metal pole connecting the bags to the bike was cut clean. This was a nightmare as I was far from anyone who could help and I knew that this bike had to last another 3 months, I was only two weeks in and already my pannier was broken. I emptied my front two bags into the back bags and managed to screw another part of the metal pannier rack to the bike. My bike is now very badly weight balanced with almost all the weight at the back. I felt unbalanced but you always do when you have changes on the bike.
We passed through Buenos Aires (Colombian) and tried to get some lunch. Nobody was however was serving food and we had to continue to the next large town. It was ash Wednesday and in the very conservative country of Colombia it seems everything shuts down to observe this day. In order to keep hunger at bay we stopped off at a beautiful view point to share an avocado. The road was beautiful but tough and we were enough we would be able to get to Jardin without having lunch. We arrived into Andes around 4 and headed straight for an Almuerzo del día. After finishing we didn’t have the strength to continue and decided to find somewhere in town to stay the night. We found a lodge that offered breakfast included and jumped at the opportunity to have a shower and a bed.
We wanted to cook for ourselves that night as the Colombian diet is lacking in vegetables. Being tired we looked for a simple solution in the supermarket and found pasta, courgette and a tomato sauce. The Colombian diet consists of a large amount of sugar and little to no vegetables. It was only after frying the vegetables and pouring the sauce on top of the pasta that we realised we had cucumber and ketchup. A disgusting meal that was impossible to finish. It might be better sticking to the meat, rice and beans offered in the restaurants!
After dinner we took a stroll in town. As it was ash Wednesday most people were wearing a black cross on their forehead. Andes is also a town that is not use to locals and walking through town brings lots of stares as I was wearing shorts and flip flops. The site of people turning their head to stare at you whilst they carry a black star on their head is eery. It felt like some sort of cult.
We returned to the lodge to get some sleep however just before getting to sleep I noticed a wasps nest by the window. The nest belonged to the Polistes carnifex and if worth a Google…
After a long cycle and a disappointing meal I was ready for bed. Tomorrow Jardin!
Cycling South America 